Venezuela border controversy: Govt seeking verbal worldwide parliaments’ support to translate into action – AG

In the wake of the recently held 148th Inter-Parliamentary Union Assembly (IPU), Attorney General Anil Nandlall has indicated that he will be writing to various parliaments around the world, who had verbally expressed support to Guyana in its border controversy with Venezuela, to make that support official.
During his recent edition of ‘Issues in the News’, Attorney General Anil Nandlall said that while he was able to raise the border controversy at the conference, there is still much to be done. According to him, the government wants the widespread support Guyana received, to be translated into action.

“It was a great conference. And they had wonderful debates. I presented and, in my presentation, I highlighted the controversy with Venezuela and I updated the assembly on where we are on that matter. The Guyana delegation received widespread support. So, what I plan to do is to write to the various parliaments, who were present and who expressed their support, to give effect to that support. To invite them to speak in their parliament and to condemn the actions of Venezuela.”
“To call upon Venezuela to comply with international law. To call upon Venezuela to accept the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice. And to demand that Venezuela employs diplomacy and dialogue, rather than threat and confrontation. Once I write those letters and disseminate them, hopefully the support we received at that conference, will then be translated into action from those parliaments,” he said.
According to Nandlall, the United Kingdom has already used its parliamentary platform to express official support for Guyana. This is likely a reference to the motion tabled in the House of Commons in December of last year, expressing support for Guyana and noting that the border controversy was settled over 100 years ago.
“Great Britain has already used their parliament as a platform to condemn Venezuela and the posture they’ve adopted on this matter. They did so in December of 2023. And they were at the IPU conference and they came to us and reiterated their support for Guyana and their condemnation of Venezuela. So, we will see how that issue unfolds,” Nandlall said.
International organisations including the United Nations (UN), the European Union (EU), the Commonwealth, the Organization of American States (OAS), and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) have condemned Venezuela’s actions, and called on the country to comply with international law. Many governments, including the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Brazil, and those of the Caribbean Region have issued similar statements.
The IPU Assembly was held under the theme “Parliamentary Diplomacy: Building Bridges for Peace and Understanding”. The Guyana delegation also included Speaker of the National Assembly, Manzoor Nadir, Minister of Local Government, Sonia Parag MP, Dawn Hasting of the Parliamentary Opposition, APNU-AFC and Sherlock Isaacs, Clerk of the National Assembly.
The controversy surrounding the territory was settled through an Arbitral Award in 1899, which both countries agreed to and accepted.
However, when Guyana was on the verge of gaining its independence from Great Britain in the early 1960s, Venezuela’s claims to two-thirds of its territory resurged.
The matter was eventually taken to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), where it currently awaits a ruling. However, Venezuela in December 2023 moved a referendum to annex two-thirds of Guyana’s sovereign territory. The ICJ has issued interim measures restraining Venezuela from taking further steps in this regard. (G3)